2007 Notable Projects: Libraries
Vol.02 No.03

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Architypes’ Notable Projects
Architype finds inspiration in projects that somehow redefine our understanding of a certain typology.  Through good design, these architects created smart and forward thinking solutions to the particular constraints or challenges presented by each project.  Grouped together by type, they provide a survey of innovation taking place at several different scales, promoted by both large and small firms. Presented here in the words and images of their own creative team, the following projects also offer an index of ideas and solutions as well as creative people and products within the industry.

Seattle Central Library, Seattle, Washington
OMA|LMN – A Joint Venture

Photography: © Floto+Warner Studio Drawings: © OMA

The library represents, maybe with the prison, the last of the uncontested moral universes. The moral goodness of the library is intimately connected to the conceptual values of the book: the library is its fortress; librarians are its guardians…
As new media emerge and gain currency, the library seems threatened, a fortress ready to be taken by a marauding hoard of technologies. In this fairytale, the electronic becomes barbaric. Its intangible, ominous ubiquity, its uncontrollable accessibility seems to represent a loss of order, tradition, civilization. In response, the language of the library has become moralistic and defensive. Its rhetoric proclaims a sense of superiority in mission, social responsibility, value…
The last decade has revealed an accelerated erosion of the Public Domain—replaced by increasingly sophisticated and entertaining forms of the Private.
The essence of the Public is that it is free.
Increasingly public space has been replaced by accommodations of quasi-public substance that while suggesting an open invite, actually make you pay. The library stands exposed as outdated and moralistic at the moment that it has become the last repository of the free and the public.
Our ambition is to redefine the library as an institution no longer exclusively dedicated to the book, but as an information store where all potent forms of media—new and old—are presented equally and legibly. In an age where information can be accessed anywhere, it is the simultaneity of all media and (more importantly) the curatorship of their contents that will make the library vital.
Flexibility in contemporary libraries is conceived as the creation of generic floors on which almost any activity can happen. Programs are not separated, rooms or individual spaces not given unique characters. In practice, this means that bookcases define generous (though non-descript) reading areas on opening day, but, through the collection’s relentless expansion, inevitably come to encroach on the public space. Ultimately, in this form of flexibility, the library strangles the very attractions that differentiate it from other information resources.
Instead of its current ambiguous flexibility, the library could cultivate a more refined approach by organizing itself into spatial compartments, each dedicated to, and equipped for, specific duties. Tailored flexibility remains possible within each compartment, but without the threat of one section hindering the others.
Our first operation was to “comb” and consolidate the library’s apparently ungovernable proliferation of programs and media. By combining like with like, we identified programmatic clusters—five of stability, and four of instability.
Each platform is a programmatic cluster that is architecturally defined and equipped for maximum, dedicated performance. Because each platform is designed for a unique purpose, their size, flexibility, circulation, palette, structure, and MEP vary.
The spaces in between the platforms function as trading floors where librarians inform and stimulate, where the interface between the different platforms is organized—spaces for work, interaction, and play.
By genetically modifying the superposition of floors in the typical American high rise, a building emerges that is at the same time sensitive (the geometry provides shade or unusual quantities of daylight where desirable), contextual (each side reacts differently to specific urban conditions or desired views), iconic.
The problem of traditional library organization is flatness. Departments are organized according to floor plans. Each floor is discreet; the unpredictable fits of growth and contraction in certain sections are, theoretically, contained within a single floor.
In 1920, the Seattle Public Library had no classification for Computer Science—by 1990 the section had exploded. As collections unpredictably swell, materials are dissociated from their categories. Excess materials are put in the basement, moved to off-site storage, or become squatters of another, totally unrelated department.
The Book Spiral implies a reclamation of the much-compromised Dewey Decimal System. By arranging the collection in a continuous ribbon - running from “000” to “999” - the subjects form a coexistence that approaches the organic; each evolves relative to the others, occupying more or less space on the ribbon, but never forcing a rupture. For Seattle, the Spiral’s 6,233 bookcases are guaranteed to house 780,000 books upon opening, with flexibility to grow to 1,450,000 books in the future (without adding another bookcase).
The traditional library presents the visitor with an internal matrix of materials, technologies, “specialists.” It is an often demoralizing process - a trail of tears through dead-end sections, ghost departments, and unexplained absences.
The Book Spiral liberates the librarians from the burden of managing ever-increasing masses of material. Newly freed, they reunite in a circle of concentrated expertise. The Mixing Chamber is an area of maximum librarian-patron interaction; a trading floor for information orchestrated to fulfill an essential (now neglected) need for expert interdisciplinary help.
The Mixing Chamber consolidates the library’s cumulative human and technological intelligence: the visitor is surrounded by information sources.    Joshua Ramus, Partner-in-Charge, November 2003

Owner
Seattle Public Library

Architect
OMA|LMN – A Joint Venture
www.oma.eu
Principals: Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus (Partner-in–charge)
Project Architects: Mark von Hof-Zogrotzki, Natasha Sandmeier, Meghan Corwin, Bjarke Ingels, Carol Patterson
Team: Keely Colcleugh, Rachel Doherty, Sarah Gibson, Anna Little, Laura Gilmore, John McMorrough, Chris van Duijn, Kate Orff, Beat Schenk, Saskia Simon, Anna Sutor, Victoria Willocks, Dan Wood with Florence Clausel, Thomas Dubuisson, Erez Ella, Achim Gergen, Eveline Jürgens, Antti Lassila, Hannes Peer, João Ribeiro, Kristina Skoogh, Sybille Waeltli, Leonard Weil, Ali Arvanaghi

LMN Architects
www.lmnarchitects.com
Partner-in-charge: John Nesholm
Project Directors: Robert Zimmer and Sam Miller
Project Architects: Tim Pfeiffer, Steve DelFraino, Mary Anne Smith, Dave Matthews, Vern Cooley, Pragnesh Parikh
Team: Chris Baxter, Jim Brown, Wayne Flood, Thomas Gerard, Mette Greenshields, Cassandra Hryniw, Roy Kim, Ed Kranick, Ken Loddeke, Howard Liu, Damien McBride, Howard Meeks, Byron Rice, Kathy Stallings, Page Swanberg

Engineer(s)
Structural, MEP, Fire, IT & A/V:
Arup
Civil & Structural: Magnusson Klemencic Associates

Consultant(s)
Acoustics: Yantis Acoustical
ADA: McGuire Associates
Artists: Ann Hamilton, Gary Hill, Tony Oursler
Cost: Davis Langdon Adamson
Graphics: Bruce Mau Design
Facades: Dewhurst Macfarlane & Partners
Facade Pre-construction Services: Seele GmbH
Hardware: Gordon Adams
Interiors: OMA|LMN; Inside Outside
Landscape: Inside Outside
Life Safety:Pielow Fair Assocs.
Lighting: Kugler Tillotson Associates
Pre-construction Services: Hoffman Construction
Vertical Transport: HKA

Photographer(s)
© Floto+Warner Studio
www.flotowarner.com

Des Moines Public Library, Des Moines, Iowa
David Chipperfield Architects

Photography: Courtesy David Chipperfield Architects and Des Moines Public Library / Photographer Farshid Assassi Drawings: © David Chipperfield Architects

The library forms an integral part of the new Des Moines 'Western Gateway Park'. This area of the city is currently undergoing extensive redevelopment and the new library and park will become a centrepiece for the urban renewal of Des Moines.
Located at the east end of the park, the new library acts as a link between downtown Des Moines and the park. On the one hand, it responds to the city block, but at the same time it stretches out into the parkland, floating in the surrounding landscape, thus creating outside spaces of different character while conveying to the visitor the feeling of sitting in the park while reading a book.
The 'Gateway Gallery', a flexible activity space, forms part of a public route through the building, reinforcing its bridging character between the park and the city and blending the threshold between library and park. Administration and back of house services are housed in the east wing.
The stacks are arranged in such a way that one will always be able to see into the park, creating a sense of openness and transparency. In addition to book stacks, the library also accommodates education facilities, children's play areas and a conference wing with a cafe, reinforcing the public nature of the building and providing a platform for public life.
The two storey concrete structure sits above an underground car park and is entirely wrapped in a composite energy efficient glass-metal skin. Laminated between two glass surfaces, a layer of expanded copper mesh reduces glare and solar gain, thus greatly reducing long-term energy costs. The mesh is the only sun-shading device necessary, ensuring that the view from the inside into the park is maintained at all times. Slight variations in the make up of the panels provide the library with a differentiated yet uniform skin, emphasising the organic shape of the building.

Owner
Des Moines Public Library

Architect
David Chipperfield Architects
www.davidchipperfield.com
Project Team: Doreen Bernath, Franz Borho, Martin Ebert, Chris Hardie, Victoria Jessen-Pike, Ilona Klockenbusch, Hartmut Kortner, Michael Kruse, Kaori Ohsugi, Kim Wang, Reiko Yamazaki

HLKB Architecture
www.hlkb.com
Project Team: Mindy Aust, Cal Lewis, Brian Lindgren, Paul Mankins, Brett Mendenhall, Evan Shaw, Jon Sloan, Jeff Wagner

Engineer(s)
Structural: Jane Wernick Associates
Services: Arup, KJWW
Façade Consultant: W. J. Higgins & Associates, Inc

Contractor(s)
The Weitz Company

Photographer(s)
Courtesy David Chipperfield Architects and Des Moines Public Library / Photographer Farshid Assassi
www.assassi.com

Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library, Pueblo, Colorado
Antoine Predock Architect PC

Photography: © Timothy Hursley Drawings: © Antoine Predock Architect PC

Located in Southern Colorado, Pueblo is sited at the foot of the Wet Mountains where the Great Plains meet the Rockies. Pueblo is both a geographical and cultural crossroads.
The new library is a sculptural abstraction of, and a careful response to, this natural and cultural landscape. The new 109,000-sf library incorporates the existing site and a portion of the existing library as well as spanning across Bates Lane to the south. The new facility rises five stories, taking full advantage of the views over the Arkansas Valley and historic Pueblo to the east, as well as distant mountain views such as Pikes Peak to the north, the Wet Mountains to the west and Greenhorn and the Spanish peaks to the south. A south-facing courtyard greets patrons at the library entry. The new courtyard is planted with fruit trees and is bordered by a reflective pool referencing Pueblo’s agrarian roots and relationships to water. The courtyard is overlooked by a lobby with glass elevators that extend past the full height of the building becoming a light beacon at night. Portions of the building are firmly grounded and expressed as a warm tone cast-in-place concrete analogous to surrounding topography with the Sky Wing wedge clad in bronze referencing ancient printing blocks. Careful study was done regarding the buildings various windows, trellises and sun louvers to control sunlight, minimize energy use and direct views.
Entering the library one is presented with commanding views through a 56’ tall glazed lobby wall. The main floor contains book check in / check out, the children’s library and a coffee/ juice bar that opens to the main lobby and entry courtyard. The children’s library defines the north edge of the entry courtyard with a glazed wall greeting visitors with books and children’s activity while passing through the courtyard to the main entry.
Taking advantage of an adjacent lot to the south, the creative solution to span over the street provided the contiguous floor area to keep all of the primary collections on one floor. The new bridge over the street became the Sky Wing, a glazed, bronze-clad wedge that contains primary reading areas and popular book stacks, extends over the street and is anchored by buff concrete walls that buttress both sides of the street.  Four 100-foot trusses at the upper executive office level with the stacks and reading rooms suspended over Bates Lane below carry the Sky Wing. This was done to keep the public stacks and reading areas as transparent as possible taking full advantage of views to historic Pueblo to the east and the mountains to the west.
The floor plan for the building became what was referred to as the propeller plan with the major book collections radiating out from a central core. The center of the propeller is the central control point for the libraries circulation and services such as, check in, check out, information desk, etc. The major book collections, reading rooms and computer stations radiate out from this core.

Owner             
Pueblo City/County Library

Architect
Antoine Predock Architect PC
www.predock.com
Design Principal:
Antoine Predock
Project Manager:
Graham Hogan
           
Associate Architect
Anderson Mason Dale Architects                     
www.amdarchitects.com

Engineer(s)
Structural:
KL&A of Colorado
Mechanical:
The Ballard Group                               
Electrical:
Gordon Gumeson & Associates                       
Civil:
Abel Engineering
                                                 
Consultant(s)
Communications:
Ove Arup & Partners
Landscape:
Wenk Associates
Library Consultant:
David R. Smith

Contractor(s)
H. W. Houston Construction Co.

Photographer(s)
© Timothy Hursley, The Arkansas Office

Visual and Performing Arts Library, Brooklyn, NY
TEN Arquitectos

Drawings: ©TEN Arquitectos

The Visual and Performing Arts Library is part of a developing cultural district in downtown Brooklyn. A wedge-shaped lot bordered by three busy avenues, the site is a natural point of convergence within Brooklyn’s complex fabric. Yet the area lacks the urban density of Manhattan and so requires an assertive project: a library that is not only a static repository of information but a site for cultural production.
The building is V-shaped in plan, its two “wings” creating a space that is both part of the city and part of the library. This space between street and institution is filled with a large staircase, an artificial topography that connects exterior and interior public spaces. Rising to the library and its collections, cascading toward the auditorium, gallery, and street, it suggests a natural gathering space or casual amphitheater. Inside the building, a similar process of negotiation—between easily accessible, flexible spaces that are public by design and the limited-access library and its stacks—takes place. Any use of the building requires passing through its public areas.
The library program is organized by the two wings: one contains archival spaces; the other houses reading rooms with double-height ceilings. The collection itself is enclosed in a translucent volume that extends into the entry courtyard, activating the public space. Dispersed throughout the building are “microprograms”—places for classes, meetings, or workshops—that offer a constant opportunity for collaborations and gatherings. Atop the building is a roof garden.
The Flatbush Avenue facade also facilitates communication between interior and exterior. The contours of the facade suggest the library’s program; likewise, subtle modulations in the diameter of shading perforations articulate activities inside the building and respond to environmental concerns as well. Thus, two types of transparency are created: the literal transparency of the glass and the metaphorical transparency of the fine-grained variations of the facade. For the library patron, this shading still allows for visibility; for the passerby, it produces a blurred effect that reflects the ethos of an organization interested in keeping malleable the boundaries that divide urban spaces.

Owner
Brooklyn Public Library

Architect
TEN Arquitectos
www.TEN-Arquitectos.com
Project Team:
Enrique Norten, Tim Dumbleton, Irina Verona, Christopher Diamond, Alex Miller, Johan van Lierop, Kenta Fukunishi, Sonia Gomez, Hyung Seung Min, Miguel Ríos, Fernanda Chandler

Architect
Guggenheimer Architects
www.roseguggenheimer.com

Engineer(s)
MEP:
Arup
Structural:
Guy Nordenson and Associates

Winnipeg Centennial Library Addition,Winnipeg, Manitoba
Patkau Architects / LM Architectural Group

Photography: © James Dow Drawings: © Patkau Architects

Winnipeg Centennial Library, originally constructed in 1976 as a three-story building, occupies a city block along with a large public park,. Both library and green space stand on a below-grade parking garage. The library, which is roughly triangular in plan, is constructed of reinforced concrete; the concrete is exposed on the interior, while the exterior is clad in pre-cast panels. Connection between the 1976 library and park is surprisingly limited. The monolithic concrete and the disconnection from the setting result in a fortress-like building with generally closed and introspective interiors.
The addition to the library, which began in 2002 as the winning entry in an invited design competition, includes reorganization and expansion of the collections, reconfiguration of the circulation systems, and creation of new social spaces, as well as renovation of the existing library. Expanding the library into the park would have destroyed valuable public green space and required costly foundation reinforcement within the parking garage. An alternative was to extend the library upward. Fortunately, the building had the structural capacity to accept an additional floor, provided it was light in weight; it also needed to be re-roofed. Thus, most of the added space is contained in a new, light, steel-framed fourth floor under a new roof.
Because of severe winter conditions, many of the buildings in downtown Winnipeg are linked by a continuous interior tunnel and skywalk system. The library is connected to this system by bridges at the second level. An enlarged two-story lobby, created by removing a portion of the second floor, allows the street-level entrance to the library, as well as a gift shop and café within the lobby, to interconnect with the skywalk.
From this urban intersection, patrons are drawn through the building, along an interior “street” animated by displays and bookselling events, and to the park. At the park edge, new public elevators and an elongated system of stairs and reading terraces tie the largely independent existing floors to each other and to the new fourth floor. The glazed wall of this multi-story space opens every level to light, landscape, and city. All public and collections space is accessible from this linear route. The compact footprint of the addition maintains maximum park space, allowing the library to take advantage of its location, while the highly visible, interactive terraces, an interior topography at the scale of the park, generate a radically new identity for the library.
The library is ordered in strips, in a series of zones that run parallel to the window wall and across the long dimension of the space. The strips accommodate the programmatic components of the library in identifiable categories. The first strip is the park, an integral part of all public spaces in the building. The second is all forms of reading—tables, comfortable chairs, and casual seating. Third is low masses, such as reference collections, help desks, and computer stations, and fourth is high masses, such as shelving running in clear sequences. The fifth category comprises rooms: closed reading rooms, offices and meeting rooms, staff areas, service areas, and book handling access. The strips progress from park to interior, from open to enclosed, from low to high, from areas of greatest public access and interaction to areas of privacy and quiet. This spatial order allows all visitors to see and understand the general arrangement of collections and functions whether they approach from elevators or from reading terraces and stairs.
On the new fourth floor, the non-fiction collection is organized as a single run of clearly indexed material. Various subjects within the collection are highlighted by “focus” areas. These exhibit spaces, which are immediately visible at the entrance to the floor, are intervals inserted into the continuity of the collection to emphasize subjects often submerged within the numerical anonymity of the Dewey Decimal system.

Owner
City of Winnipeg Library Services
City of Winnipeg Planning, Property, and Development Department      

Architect
Patkau Architects
www.patkau.ca
Project Team:
Samantha Hayes, Maureen Kwong, Hector Lo, Imke Maron, Tokimi Ota, John Patkau, Patricia Patkau, Christian Schulte, Craig Simms, Yong Sun, Peter Suter 

LM Architectural Group
www.lm-architects.com
Project Team:
David Kressock, Ken Duchnycz, Andrew Brimble, Greg Tomaszewski, Lloyd Mymko, Brent Mehyden, Robert Winslow, Ron Kinash

Engineer(s)
Structural:
Crosier Kilgour & Partners Ltd.
Mechanical:
SMS Engineering Ltd.,
Electrical:
MCW/AGE Consulting Professional Engineers

Consultant(s)
Landscape:
Hilderman Thomas Frank Cram
Code:
Gage-Babcock and Associates Ltd.
Acoustic:
Daniel Lyzun Associates,
Media:
McSquared System Design Group, Inc.
Signage:
Gallop/Varley

Contractor(s)
Manshield Construction

Photographer(s)
© James Dow

City of Phoenix Desert Broom Branch Library, Phoenix, AZ
Richärd + Bauer

Photography: © Bill Timmerman Photography Drawings: © Richärd + Bauer

Borrowing the symbiotic relationship of a young saguaro and nurse tree, the expansive roof of the Desert Broom Branch Library creates a shaded microclimate, providing daylight, shelter and a nurturing environment for intellectual growth.
The roof form extends 60’ out into the natural desert creating indoor/outdoor transitional space providing a seamless transition into the desert.  These outdoor reading spaces are enclosed and shaded by a series of coiled metal screens, following the natural form of the adjacent arroyo, and are cooled by building relief air. The roof is penetrated by a series of openings allowing filtered light into the interior and exterior spaces. Each of the openings is treated with a fritted or colored glass creating an ever-changing series of colors and patterns throughout the space.
Within the framework of the roof a series of volumes contain the Meeting room, Utility core, Staff and Computer training areas.  Above each of the primary service points within the building “Digital Information Cubes” display ever changing representations of digital information which can be seen from the exterior during the evening. The building is sheathed in weathering steel, recalling the rustic quality of the site. The entire library sits on an accessible flooring system permitting flexibility and changeability over time. The 15,000 square foot facility has been designed so that it may be easily reconfigured to expand to an ultimate size of 25,000 square feet. 

Owner
City of Phoenix

Architect
Richärd + Bauer
www.richard-bauer.com
Project Team: 
James Richärd AIA, Steve Kennedy AIA, Erik Koss

Engineer(s)
Civil and Structural:
KPFF Consulting Engineers
MEP:
Energy Systems Design
           
Consultant(s)
Landscape:
e-group

Contractor(s)
Linthicum Corp.

Photographer(s)
© Bill Timmerman Photography
www.billtimmerman.com

Glen Oaks Branch Library, Glen Oaks, NY
Marble Fairbanks

Drawings: © Marble Fairbanks

Glen Oaks Branch Library is designed to replace an existing one story facility with a new 18,000 sf, high performance, LEED certified building.  The program includes adult, young adult, and children’s reading areas and collections, periodicals, a cybercenter, and community meeting rooms along with staff workspaces. The site is at the juncture of low scale commercial and institutional buildings with a suburban residential neighborhood. The area of the required program is double that allowable by zoning, so one half of the interior spaces is placed below grade.
To bring natural light below grade, a double-height space acts as a large skylight and connects the ground floor to the lower level.  In addition, three strip skylights in the plaza define more specific reading areas within the adult room.  The ceiling of the adult reading room under the outdoor plaza is contoured to form varying heights above the finish floor, providing more intimate reading areas within the relatively open plan. The profile of the contoured ceiling is read at the double-height space, visually making the connection between the plaza surface and the ceiling surface and accentuating the artificiality of the ground.
The landscape strategy acknowledges the ground surface’s dual role as an outdoor public space and as the roof of the cellar below, exploring the relationship between artifice and nature.  Bluestone planks of varying widths create an urban surface in keeping with the library’s residential context and larger public role and are ‘removed’ to plant Sumac and low perennials. Benches are introduced in keeping with the grain of the bluestone pattern. The library landscape is porous visually, blending inside and outside, while providing quiet seating areas for rest and reading.
The above grade massing and material treatment responds to the very different site conditions on each elevation while adhering to  required zoning setbacks and skyplanes, while the interior library spaces are left as open plans with reading rooms on all three levels. The north elevation functions as a picture-window into and out of the second floor children’s area, while also satisfying the Library’s desire to provide a civic identity to the community.  The word “search” is projected by sunlight through letters on the film in the parapet onto the glass curtain wall, varying in scale and legibility as a result of the time of day, degree of sunlight, and season.
Graphics sandwiched in the glass wrapping along the building at street level on the north and west elevations create both an internal and external beacon at grade. The pattern on the graphic film interlayer allows the building to be read at multiple scales, while the pattern doubles as a screen to filter western sun, reducing heat loads in the summer months.
The east and south elevations provide an economical and contextually novel solution that merges the scale of the library and its residential adjacencies.  Cement board panels are fastened with polished stainless steel discs that reflect surrounding houses and landscape creating the effect of a “low resolution” pixelated image of the neighborhood.

Owner
Queens Library; New York City Department of Design and Construction

Architect
Marble Fairbanks
www.marblefairbanks.com
Project Team:
Scott Marble, Karen Fairbanks , Mallory Shure, Stacey Murphy, Eric Ng, Adam Marcus, Jake Nishimura, Darren Zhou, Katie Shima, Robert Booth, Andrew Colopy, Jane Lea

Engineer(s)
MEP, Fire Protection:
Plus Group Consulting Engineering PLLC
Structural:
Buro Happold Consulting Engineers
Geotechnical, Civil:
Langan Engineering and Environmental Services

Consultant(s)
Landscape:
SCAPE
LEED:
Buro Happold Consulting Engineers
Lighting:
Rick Shaver Architectural Lighting

Minneapolis Central Library, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

Photography: © Jeff Goldberg /Esto Drawings: © Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

Since 1885, the Minneapolis Public Library, with the fourth largest metropolitan collection in the country, has changed the lives of millions of people by providing ready access to knowledge and information and serving as a source of community pride and economic stimulation.  The new, recently-completed Central Library, the main branch of the library system, has become a vital civic landmark and cultural center for the City and the region. Replacing an outdated facility, the new library building houses the state’s largest public library collection of printed and electronic media.
The library serves as a vital community resource, providing extensive research and educational access as well as enlightening and enriching programs to the public.  With over 353,000 ft2 of floor space, an additional 140,000 ft2 of underground parking and easy access to public transportation, the building is a welcoming and accessible hub for learning and exchange.  The majority of the new library’s collection is on open shelves, putting nearly 100% of materials — compared with the previous 15% — at users’ fingertips. Doubling the number of computers has allowed more people access to technology.
The new Minneapolis Central Library acts as a gateway and anchor at the north end of the City’s downtown mall.  The exterior of the new building was designed to enhance the urban character of the City and to attract visitors from all directions.  The library block is shaped by the juncture of two major street grids: the business district to the South, and the arts district to the West.  The shifting urban geometry of the site carries through into the public space of the building, informing the shape of the 5-story, glass-enclosed Galleria.  Nestled between these two major street grids, the Galleria becomes the “living room” for the City. 
Above the Galleria floats a wing-like, steel-truss roof that spans over the building’s two main entrances.  This wing-like shape represents the library’s larger presence within the downtown community.  The future planetarium dome on the northwest corner will shape the urban character of the building and provides a highly-visible urban marker. The two levels of below-grade parking and three future skyway connections tie the project into the city’s pedestrian and vehicular patterns.
Local, buff-colored Minnesota limestone bands run horizontally between the glass walls that make up the majority of the building’s skin.  Ceramic fritted patterns representing the region’s natural landscape, such as water, snow, trees and prairie grass, infuse life into the glass walls of the building and contribute much to the identity of this great public building.
The Minneapolis Central Library has also been designed to be environmentally sustainable.  An 18,560 ft2 green roof was incorporated to enhance storm water management practices and reduce the urban heat island effect.  The library is 27% more energy efficient than required by the energy code, and is provided with excellent daylighting features, which promote a healthy building environment.  Glazing on the glass walls minimizes solar gain on the east, west and south facades, while 96% of the previous existing library was recycled as was construction waste whenever possible.

Owner
City of Minneapolis

Architect
Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects
www.pcparch.com
Design Principal:
Cesar Pelli
Project Principal and Collaborating Designer:
Fred W. Clarke
Design Team Leader:
William Butler
Senior Designers:
Aicha Woods
Designers:
Elijah Huge, Sebastian Mallea, Luciana Mello, Jose Luis Cabello

Architectural Alliance
www.archalliance.com
Managing Principal:
Tom Hysell
Principal In Charge:
Peter Vesterholt
Interiors Principal:
Sharry Cooper
Project Manager:
Nina Ebbighausen

Engineer(s)
Thornton Tomasetti Engineers

Consultant(s)
Landscape:
Coen + Partners
Lighting:
Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design
Library Consultant: 
Michaels Associates Design Consultants
Graphics/Wayfinding:
Larsen Design Interactive
Construction Manager:
Mortenson/Thor

Photographer(s)
© Jeff Goldberg, Esto Photographics
www.esto.com

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